Xiaomi Hires Qualcomm’s Head Of China As Senior VP Of Strategic Operations

In what could easily be one of the biggest appointments for World’s most valued tech startup till date, Xiaomi has announced that it has hired Wang Xiang, former head of Qualcomm China, as Senior Vice President of strategic cooperation.

Wang had been managing operations at Qualcomm for 13 years now. He previously served as senior vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm Greater China, where he was responsible for all of the company’s operations in the mainland country.

Before Qualcomm, Wang held positions at Motorola and Lucen and played a key role in getting Qualcomm up and running in China as well as establishing relationships with phone makers like Xiaomi in the early days.

Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun said in a statement –

I believe that with Wang Xiang’s excellent leadership skills, over 20 years of experience in the industry, and close ties with players within the mobile ecosystem, he will be able to steer Xiaomi to the next level of success in strategic cooperation and establishing important partner relations. He was the one who successfully helped Qualcomm establish a strategic cooperation with Xiaomi, which has only deepened over time.

Qualcomm chips power majority of Xiaomi smart phones, including its much adored Mi series. The latest Mi Note Pro uses Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 810 processor. Qualcomm also happens to be an investor in Xiaomi.

This shift in positions comes after a long stretch of turbulence in China. After a 14-month Chinese government investigation into anti-competitive practices, Qualcomm company agreed to pay a fine of $975 million, the largest in China’s corporate history. That settlement also had Qualcomm lower its royalty rates on patents used in China.

This is not the first time that Xiaomi has welcomed of such a high profile executive. Ever since Xiaomi hired Former Googler Hugo Barra, Vice President of International Expansion, it has experienced an impeccable growth in terms of global expansion and still continues to rise up the charts.

Xiaomi aims to sell over 100 million smartphones this year, and getting aboard of Wang would eventually strengthen its foray into foreign boundaries.